IPL 2018: Sam Billings helps Chennai Super Kings outclass Kolkata Knight Riders

Chennai Super Kings CSK batsman Sam Billings plays a shot during the IPL 2018 cricket match against KKR at MAC Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday CSK won the match by 5 wickets PicPTISam Billings played a little gem as Chennai Super Kings once again pulled off a thrilling chase beating Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in an IPL encounter here tonight Chasing a stiff target of 203 CSK won the match with a ball to spare as Ravindra Jadeja deposited military medium stuff from R Vinay Kumar into stands The India discard bowled a forgettable final over where CSK needed 17 runs to win This was after Englishman Billings set it up nicely with a magnificent 56 off 23 balls that five huge sixes apart from a couple of boundariesThe pressure put by Mahendra Singh Dhonis slow batting 25 off 28 balls was neutralised by Billings Chasing a target of 203 needed a blazing start and veteran Shane Watson was up for a challenge hitting 42 off 19 balls with three fours and an equal number of sixes in a 75run opening stand with Ambati Rayudu 39 off 26 balls Tom Curran making his IPL debut got rid of Watson with a short ball and Rayudu was accounted by Kuldeep Yadav as he tried an insideout shotSuresh Raina 14 sustained a calf muscle injury which hampered his running between the wickets with Sunil Narine sending him back Dhoni and Billings got the chase back on track with a 54run stand Earlier Andre Russell hit an incredible 11 sixes in his 36ball88 as Kolkata Knight Riders scored a competitive 202 for six after being put into batIn one of the finest counterattacking innings in recent editions of IPL Russell came in at 89 for 5 and then took the bowling apart with as many as seven sixes being hit off West Indies teammate Dwayne Bravo including three in an overRussell was involved in a 76run sixth wicket partnership with skipper Dinesh Karthik 26 as KKR went onto post a good total In fact the last five overs yielded 79 runs that got KKR back into the matchCSK captain MS Dhonis strategy to use his slow bowlers in the initial stages on a surface aiding spin worked well but Russell had other ideas as he attacked the pacers including Shardul Thakur 137 in 4 overs and Bravo 050 in 3 oversBravo who was frugal against Mumbai Indians in the first game was taken for 50 runs in three overs with Russell hammering him all over the park sending two balls out of the stadiumEarlier Sunil Narine got off to a flying start as he did in the game against RCB and smote Deepak Chahar for two big sixers on the legside in the first over of the match However he fell off the first ball he faced from the experienced Harbhajan Singh 111 in 2 overs in the second over going for a big hit to be caught by Suresh Raina Chris Lynn the dangerman appeared to be getting into his groove and had hit four boundaries before being castled by Ravindra Jadeja for 22Nitish Rana underlined his potential in his brief knock of 16 before an edge lobbed up to Dhoni Robin Uthappa who appeared in good touch hitting three sixes in his 16ball29 was runout as Rainas throw caught him short of his groundThe talented young Rinku Singh didnt last long and fell to Shardul Thakur to leave KKR in a spot of bother at 89 for 5 in 10 oversCatch up on all the latest IPL news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever